The insistence on access, utilization, and rehabilitation of coastal resources: A case study of local fisheries in Trang Province

Abstract

The insistence on access, utilization, and rehabilitation of coastal resources in Trang Province has resulted in the local fishermen having more access to marine resources, which should be extended to the community. This qualitative research aims to study the access and method of rehabilitation of marine resources by the local fishermen in Trang Province. We found that the insistence on access and utilization of marine resources started before the 1957s when those resources were plentiful. Based on the literature review, the issue of fighting for access to marine resources began between native Siamese and Japanese people who did illegal fishing in the Andaman Sea at the beginning of World War II. This is inferred that Japan had prepared food itself before the world war started. Later, an extrusion period for Trang fishery resources has arisen from 1967 to the end of the 1977 decades, when the commercial fisheries, especially trawl nets and push nets were used as intensive fishing gears, resulting in the deterioration of marine resources which is directly affected to local fishermen's income. The main issues in the restoration process of marine resources include the establishment of community organizations associated with local fishermen and non-governmental organizations that always encouraged and conserved their resources as well as the setting up of mangrove communities. The restoration of marine resources should be done based on the knowledge created by the local fishermen’s networks. In addition, giving knowledge on dugongs could connect several groups of people to realize marine resource conservation.